Military Funeral

Feb 18 (Reuters) - A Wisconsin Army National Guard soldier who posted a photo on social media of soldiers smiling or striking poses around a flag-draped casket has been suspended, the guard said on Tuesday. The photo of the group of soldiers in combat uniforms was taken around an empty casket at a National Guard training center in Arkansas, said the Wisconsin Army National Guard, which become aware of the posting on Monday. "I was appalled by...

Feb 18 (Reuters) - A Wisconsin Army National Guard soldier who posted a photo on social media of soldiers smiling or striking poses around a flag-draped casket has been suspended, the guard said on Tuesday. The photo of the group of soldiers in combat uniforms was taken around an empty casket at a National Guard training center in Arkansas, said the Wisconsin Army National Guard, which become aware of the posting on Monday. "I was appalled by...

Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon 's body lay in state on Sunday outside parliament in Jerusalem , where thousands of Israelis waited to bid farewell to the maverick warrior-statesman who reshaped the Middle East . Sharon died at the age of 85 on Saturday after eight years in a coma caused by a stroke he suffered at the pinnacle of his political power. He will be buried on Monday in a military funeral on his farm in southern...

On the bitter winter day in 2002 that Cecilia Seabrook buried her father at Lincoln National Cemetery, she sat on a pew a few feet from the coffin, trying to keep herself together. But when a stranger, hidden behind a building, began playing taps on a bugle, a lump formed in Seabrook's throat and tears streamed down her face. That stranger gave Seabrook's father, a World War II veteran, part of the formal military funeral honor Seabrook had so desperately wanted...

Taps is the most familiar of the military bugle calls, a piece crafted by Union Gen. Daniel Butterfield for the Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth Army Corps in the Army of the Potomac in 1862. The general wanted his troops to drift off to sleep with something a little more sonorous in their heads than the taps predecessor, something called "Extinguish Lights," which was borrowed early in the 19th Century from the French. These days, taps is the sine qua non for the American military funeral, something...

On the bitter winter day in 2002 that Cecilia Seabrook buried her father at Lincoln National Cemetery, she sat on a pew a few feet from the coffin, trying to keep herself together. But when a stranger, hidden behind a building, began playing taps on a bugle, a lump formed in Seabrook's throat and tears streamed down her face. That stranger gave Seabrook's father, a World War II veteran, part of the formal military funeral honor Seabrook had so desperately wanted...

To honor fallen soldiers, Greg Bowman rode his motorcycle alongside funeral processions and escorted caskets from airports to funeral homes. As a senior ride captain over the last two years for the Patriot Guard Riders, a motorcycle group that attends military funerals, he mixed patriotism with his love of motorcycles. "He was just so humbled by all these vets who would tell him about their experiences in the war," said his wife, Joann. "He never served, and he never went to bed not...

An overflow crowd of friends and relatives shared their grief over Marine Capt. Ryan Beaupre on Thursday with strangers who wanted to help bury one of the first American casualties in the war with Iraq. There was the Army veteran, now a south suburban businessman, who rearranged his schedule to attend the service. The bishop of the Joliet diocese, who assisted in the funeral mass and thanked the family for their son's bravery. And a choir member whose father died in a war more than half a...

Dear Abby: After reading your columns about laughter at inappropriate times, I had to write. I am now 37. I was forced to go to a Catholic school from first grade through the eighth and was also an altar boy. I will never forget the time we were in the middle of a funeral service and the mourners were within a few feet of me near the casket. One of the mourners was a very heavy breather, and every time he exhaled, his nose made a whistling sound. I started to laugh and eventually...

By Steve Chapman, a member of the Tribune's editorial board | January 15, 2006

It's hard to describe the views of Rev. Fred Phelps without feeling soiled by the association, but I'll do it anyway. He attests that God is disgusted with America's tolerance of homosexuality. In his view, the almighty is punishing the nation by using improvised explosive devices to kill American troops in Iraq. God wants our soldiers dead. Phelps, pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., is not content to deliver this message to his congregation. He also communicates it in the...

If you can think of anything more despicable than what a religious group from Topeka does at military funerals, please let me know, because it's just about the worst thing I've ever heard. Rev. Fred Phelps and his band of merry bigots from the Westboro Baptist Church believe America is doomed because it condones homosexuality. According to Phelps, soldiers are dying as an act of vengeance by God. Apparently this is why they have been traveling around the country...

If you can think of anything more despicable than what a religious group from Topeka does at military funerals, please let me know, because it's just about the worst thing I've ever heard. Rev. Fred Phelps and his band of merry bigots from the Westboro Baptist Church believe America is doomed because it condones homosexuality. According to Phelps, soldiers are dying as an act of vengeance by God. Apparently this is why they have been traveling around the country...

Cissie Chrisco stands erect, hand over her heart, as the U.S. Army band plays a final tribute to a World War II veteran. Dust from the newly dug grave covers her low-heel shoes as she walks toward the family of a man she never met and delivers her heart-felt condolences. Chrisco is one of about 150 volunteers-wives and widows of servicemen-who attend almost every military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The military cemetery is one of the most beautiful and...

Taps is the most familiar of the military bugle calls, a piece crafted by Union Gen. Daniel Butterfield for the Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth Army Corps in the Army of the Potomac in 1862. The general wanted his troops to drift off to sleep with something a little more sonorous in their heads than the taps predecessor, something called "Extinguish Lights," which was borrowed early in the 19th Century from the French. These days, taps is the sine qua non for the American military funeral, something...